The Rose Genie
by mou-mou
Summary: Lazy, clumsy Usagi, 23, mistakenly ends up living with Mamoru, the The Rose Genie...er...Prince? He hates her human guts, and she just wants to be on time for work.
1. Meeting Our Heroine

Hello everyone! This is my first-ever written fanfic (after years of wanting to write one but being too shy) and I just wanted to thank you for choosing to read it. I hope it entertains you and you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. So this story happens a few years after the Senshi have destroyed the "last menace" to the universe. No fighting or battles in this fic, apart from the ones that Usa/Mamo have of course! Also, Tuxedo Kamen never existed in this particular universe. Just some info to keep in mind. Enjoy!!

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"Ladies and gentleman, a proud moment for Miss Tsukino Usagi….the ultimate winner of our **Miss Gorgeous Universe Contest**!"

The audience of thousands, half envious women and half drooling men, erupted in a harmonious cheer (with some groans), waving their arms widely. Children danced around, trying to catch the lazily falling silver and gold glitter as it rained from the rafters of the enormous hall. Usagi – ahem - Miss Gorgeous Universe 2007 grinned cheekily as she accepted a huge bouquet of roses wrapped in silk fichu from the robust announcer, her cornflower-blue eyes smiling warmly. At seeing said smile, the announcer wiped at his over moistened forehead and upper lip, bringing the microphone up to parched lips, speaking almost directly to Usagi's overpadded and glittering chest.

(Of course every contestant worse a corset to fully amplify their figure… she wasn't the only one, right? She thoughtfully looked down at the cleavage, a mere child's-size when compared to Miss California and Miss Brazil.)

"Let the celebration and music begin….!!!" Yelled out the announcer, ushering Usagi ahead with a quivering hand at her delicate silk-encased waist as she began her long walk down the center stage towards flashing camera bulbs and flying roses, slightly wobbly….as the audience cheered….and bells clanged…and drums gonged…

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing……………_

And…. Phones rang?...

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing…… _

She was walking proudly, glitter decorating the lush, thick curtain of her peach-gold hair, swept up into a pile of intricate pincurls and pearls, her cheers made her blush becomingly, flushed at the attention from the screaming crowd….

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing…..

"Thank you…. Thank you so much…" she whispered, throwing a kiss….they went wild. Men prostrated themselves at the edges of the stage, kneeling, some cried! _Yes_, she thought_, I am magnificent! Bow to me! I deserve this, after years of getting bumped and bruised for you people and protecting your butts as a Senshi…!_

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing………._

She jumped and glanced behind her as the too-shrill tone sounded suddenly next to her ear. What was the heck was that disgusting sound, interrupting HER show?? HER magnificent win!? As she glanced back at the audience, their image began to swim and slowly disperse, like a light fog dissipated slowly by a tower-light. Usagi reached out toward the stage, took a step forward and----

**CRASH**. **BANG**. The audience gasped once.

And she woke up in a pile of her own golden hair, empty Sunchips bags, wrinkled skirts, pantyhose….and a phone dangling precariously off it's receiver on her bedside drawer.

"Nnnn…nani…kore…." she mumbled, and spitting out a chunk of her own mango-scented hair, she drowsily glanced at the clock.

"Usagi…" came a menacing grunt from the direction of the dangling teddy bear phone, a gift from Makoto-chan for Sweetest Day when Usagi had wailed about having no sweetie at all.

"Teddy…..?" Usagi slowly smiled at the apparently magical talking bear which dangled upside down in front of her dazed eyes.

And as her eyes connected to the big, glaring red 12:32PM--- the phone-man, who happened to be HER BOSS, belted out:

"YOU'RE LATE AGAIN, YOU IDIOT EMPLOYEE!!!"

And with that, Tsukino Usagi, Miss Gorgeous Universe In Your Dreams 2007, who also belted our her own scream of terror (to form quite a beautiful cacophony of sounds, actually) began what would become the Friday that she would never forget. And one she had never dreamed of.

Author's notes:

Hi everyone!! Even though I LOVE Usa/Mamo fanfiction, this is my FIRST EVER, so PLEASE comment! I hope it encourages me to continue writing more, because there's been a drought of great sexual-tension-type Usa/Mamo fiction out there!!

Please let me know how you like it!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. A Prism

Hi all! Thanks so much for reading! Please comment if you like it! It's slow, but it's happening.

PS: This fanfic is rated M for possible FUTURE mature scenes. Not yet!

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"Ahhhh….! Why late to work again…!?!" cried a surprisingly awake, but awfully disoriented and out-of-breath Usagi as she quickly bolted through the winding streets of Juuban District, Tokyo. Usually, she would take a leisurely stroll through these beautiful streets, the edges lined with adolescent cherry blossom trees, the pink silk droplets covering the sidewalks and making it seem like a magical and peaceful paradise. She would take a deep breath and look up to see the blue skies with puffy clouds like lambs or puppies… and she would smile, hoping, someday someday **someday**, to walk these streets with a handsome boyfriend with a quirky smile and strong hands (he would have to protect her, of course, her days of saving the world via Senshi power were long over after her final battle years ago). Handsome-Boyfriend-sama would stop her under a particularly breathtaking blossoming tree, the sunlight shining through and dappling her glorious mane of hair, and he would murmur to her cheek, her soft lips gently parting in invitation…. 

A glistening sliver of saliva slipped past Usagi's coral-pink lips as she grinned open-mouthed, eyes-closed, into the sky. _Heee…….oh dream boyfriend, don't touch me there…we're in public…..kyaa….ohhh…._

Just as a sweet, darling, and innocent boy of ten years old came by on his darling bicycle…..and RAN. OVER. HER FOOT.

_GEH_, she froze like a statue in sudden and intense pain.

"You're already late to work, Usagi-baka! You can afford your own apartment, so try buying an alarm clock, cheap-o!!" hooted her younger brother, Shingo, with a loud _cling-clang_ of his bicycle bell.

"KYAAAAAAA---NnnnNNN!!!!!" screamed Usagi, hurtling profanities and a few stray twigs towards that sweet boy who retaliated with a not-so-sweet middle-finger behind him as he disappeared from sight. Usagi fumed, her earlier-blushing cheeks now a fuming red, not unlike her crushed toes as she gingerly dancing a few inches above the sidewalk.

"Itaaaaiiii yoooo…." She hissed out between her teeth. She leaned over to examine her now-dusty shoe as her hair, two thick, gleaming ponytails tied into efficient buns at the top of her hair, trailed on the grass at her feet.

_Wait--- grass?_ She blinked around from her position, now seeing (albeit a little sideways) a lush, green park as her hand slowly came to pause in dusting off her shoes. _I was dreaming of a boyfriend…and I must have ended up in the park_, she thought, groaning. She stood up straight, smoothing her hands over her slightly-wrinkled white button-down shirt, fingers plucking at the short puff-sleeves at her shoulders. The gesture reminded her of her morning dream, and she unconsciously looked down at her bust, still the same petite size, like the rest of her. She huffed her chest up ala Miss Brazil, only to give out a big exhale and hunch over with a groan. She sighed and looked down at her black skirt and black waitress' apron, both dusty now from Shingo's hasty retreat.

She continued patting her garments down with a huff, her slim wrists moving over her petite form. No matter how much Usagi ate (and she did eat, a lot, and it was a wonder she would even keep her apartment if you thought of how much she spent on groceries), nobody could call her fat or chubby. Mesmerizingly to most men, Usagi was unaware of her small form, perfectly built with soft feminine curves and soft ivory skin, an unmatched combination of girlish, long colt-like legs and subtle sensuality. Her cheeks, often flushing easily with her emotions, would turn her face into a beacon for any man. The becoming pink hue would cause her corn-flower blue eyes to literally glisten with warmth, gentleness, and sometimes (though Usagi was completely naïve to this, no matter how much her friendly Senshi would try to convince her otherwise) a frank and painfully innocent sensuality that, if any decent and non-eunuch man was within range, would cause them to instantly want to…. Well, you can imagine. But _never_ in her 23 years on this earth could Usagi imagine people having such impure thoughts because, try as anybody might, she was genuinely, instinctively, and naturally…. Usagi. Pure of heart, often (but not always), and loyal to a fault to the cause that All People Are Good Within Their Hearts.

"Now I'm really, really late….great," she murmured.Thankfully Usagi's Boss (he has a real name, but she forgets so often that, for her, his real name has become 'Boss') knows she brings lots of (ahem) male customers into the tiny little corner Teas & Cakes Café and is lenient with her….er…scheduling mishaps. Letting out a great sigh, Usagi lifted a wrist to move one heavy curtain of hair back over her shoulder when she caught a tiny lightning-flash of color at the corner of her eye. Her delicate golden eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. All parks were just full of…. green-ness, right? But what she had seen, or THOUGHT, she'd seen had been as radiant as a prism or a crystal held up to sunlight. She took a step forward deeper into the park, away from the center fountain and away from the jogging trail and benches. _Nani_….she thought, as she saw the glimmer….and there! A flickr! That same color! She recognized it from years past, from her now-dormant ginzuishou…. _Such a mesmerizing scope of colors…. _Her feet unconsciously drew her deeper still until she was surrounded by cool air and copses of thick summer trees, all dancing lazily in the cool breeze. The familiar _whoosh _of the branches swaying calmer her, but those colors…. Usagi treaded on deeper still, now the trees standing closer together as if protecting or sharing some secret. Her shoes ruined from the moist soil, the back of her neck damp with exertion, she finally came to a dead stop, and took a deep breath.

Any normal person would have seen nothing out of the ordinary. Just a small copse of trees huddled in a circle and in the center- probably nothing. Any ordinary person would have remarked on their own stupidity and walked off, back to work, and thought nothing of their particular – and imagined – sight of a prism in a public park. As if! But Usagi was no ordinary girl, as many people know, and where many people would have seen…. well, nothing... Usagi saw Something. Well, something quite UNextraodinary. **A single rose**. A single, UNremarkable UNspecial red rose. Just lying in the middle of the copse of thick, lazy trees. In the far corner of a public park. It was not a dozen roses, not some unwanted gift, but just a single rose lying on the moist soil, as if accidentally dropped by some hand. But there it was.

And Usagi, with her innocent heart (who always pays close attention to Missing Dog signs and cried during King Kong because the giant ape died), let out a gentle "Oh….no…. you poor thing…" and rushed forward to kneel at the rose's….well, petals. As gently as if the rose itself was a newborn, she cradled it with both hands, dusting off the specks of soil on its petals, and held it in her palms. "I'll take you home, give you some water, and you'll be perfect." She paused for a moment, nodding to herself at the decided course of action and turned around, back to the center of the park, back to the road toward the Tea and Cake Café. She smiled down to the red rose in her hands, beginning a conversation, "Well, first I'll take you to work with me and put you in some water AND THEN you can go in the window because I'm sure you'll love sunshine, it comes in so nicely from the windows, "she rattled on, with a slight dance in her walk, unaware (as usual) of the men stopping in their tracks to eye the charming picture she made. "And I love working there because of that sunshine! It feels so nice to help the customers and feel the sun…"

And so, Usagi continued the story of her entire Job Hunt. From her first job at a grocer's to the Tea and Cake Café, until she strolled in through the front door, the bell chiming and announcing her arrival to Boss behind the counter, who already had a wet rag ready and an arm flung back, screaming: "I CALLED YOU AN HOUR AGO, BAKA-YAROU!!!!!" and flung said wet rag hard-as-a-baseball into Usagi's face as she screamed "Booosssuuu!!!" falling onto the tile floor.

Customers gaped, tea and cakes halfway to their mouths. And the rose, still delicately clutched in Usagi's quivering hand, gave an unperceivable and annoyed grunt.


	3. The Curse

Hi everyone! I'm so pleased to bring you another chapter of this tiny little story close to my heart. After reading so many Usa/Mamo fics, I'm pleased to put mine out into the world in hopes that someone will love it and that some girls can daydream about it!  Enjoy!

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His Royal Highness, Mamoru Chiba, Crown Prince of the Earth was…..

Pissed.

Correction. He was _really_ pissed. Not that his Gracious and All-Humble Highness wasn't often pissed, but being in the death-grip of an imbecile blond didn't help his humors rise. He could not wait for the moment when this stupid curse was off him so he could pummel the idiot blond- weirdly called U-sa-gi (what a dopey name!) into the brown Earth. It wasn't HIS fault that he was in this ri-di-cu-lous situation. No. He was just being the handsome and princely…Prince that he was, and he saw no problem whatsoever in rejecting the girl that his mother had chosen for him as a Betrothed. Correction: The UGLY and sinister-looking young Princess whom his mother had chosen as a betrothal. He could no more imagine waking up next to her skeleton-thin body for the rest of her days than he could see himself kissing her puckered, dry lips FOR ETERNITY. No way, no how. Any Prince of his character, morals, upbringing, and good sense would have rejected Princess What's-Her-Face with no scruples about it. Mamoru, however, had to deal with The Scruples. Otherwise called Mother. The Queen.

One Week Ago

"Mamoru."

His name, spoken sternly, stopped the Prince in his tracks. It echoed over the white marble balustrades, balconies, receiving rooms, and giant _concerto_ halls of the Imperial Palace. It gave pause to the dozens of maids and had them scurrying to dust more rooms. Mamoru's boots immediately came to a sharp and final step on the white marble. His lean frame turned gracefully, tousled midnight hair tickling over his thick sooty lashes which framed azure-and-gold-speckled eyes. He reached up and carelessly combed the errant hair away. He knew that voice- and he knew the repercussions of _hearing_ that voice.

"Yes, Mother?" he said, now facing the usually gentle and magnanimous Queen of Earth, clothed in rich fabrics of lush greens and golds, taken from the natural foliage of her ruling planet. Her hair was a thick mass of brilliant auburn hair which fell to her shoulders in glistening waves like piles of autumn leaves. Her often-smiling apple-green eyes were, alas, not smiling today. He strode toward her son, her silly and foolish son, with a purpose in her stride that only a mother could convey. She stood before him, having to tilt her head up slightly to meet his gaze and somehow shrink him down to his height at age eight.

"Why," she began smoothly, which terrified Mamoru, "have you rejected my choice for your Betrothal? She is an amiable Princess and the bond between her kingdom and ours would be beneficial! Mamoru, you incorrigible boy!" she finished, with a hearty slap to the back of his head. He _oof_'d and righted himself, straightening his traditional royal clothing, a finely-made white law cotton shirt with a deep V in the chest, worn under a deep cobalt-blue vest with molded over his powerful, lean shoulders. He wore a traditional loose pant over his strong, lengthy legs and he often preferred to walk barefoot to better feel the earth under his soles. Today, however, it was boots. The maids did not complain. Not about size, not about anything the Prince chose to wear. His upper arms and a wrist were adorned with the golden circlet holding the Imperial Signet of the Earth and both middle fingers carried golden rings with gems in the same tradition. Suffice to say, Mamoru was breathtakingly handsome. He was as confident as Usagi was not, as rich as Usagi was poor, as experienced as Usagi was naïve, and as impatient as she was… late.

Mamoru took in a breath, looking into his mother's eyes and tried to convey an image of innocence that would hopefully pierce through her mother's-heart and win her loyalty. "Mama…" he began, softly, like a young boy waking up from a bad nightmare seeking comfort, "I did not like her. She was uninteresting at the dinner, uninformed, had bits of food in her hair….and _she's not in the least attractive_!" he finished with a slice of his hand through the air.

His mother eyed him warily. "You don't know how lucky you are to be offered this girl as a bride. You are 29; you ungrateful pup, and hardly can know your own luck!" When she finished, Mamoru let in another deep sigh, bringing his mother in for a powerfully warm hug. He spoke, and his voice rumbled in his chest like distant thunder. "Mama, I appreciate what you do for me, but I cannot marry That Girl. I want to know more about life and I know she can't be the one to open my eyes." His mother fairly melted. This was the Mamoru she knew and loved; a gentle, sensitive, caring young man who was still as stubborn as his father.

"Well, Mamoru," she said with a twinkle in her leaf-green eyes, "You'll just have to learn some things, won't you?" And with that, the Queen of Earth brought both arms up to return her son's loving hug, and at the touch of all ten fingertips to his back, Mamoru vanished with almost a questioning "Ma-"

And plopped unceremoniously on the grass, his body merged with an unremarkable rose, in the middle of nowhere.

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Hey everyone, hope you liked it! In case you were curious about how the Prince got into that gosh-darn rose! Sorry it's moving slowly, but I'd rather give you more chapters that are short than take forever to write a huge one! Please comment! 


	4. Surprise Meeting

Mamoru's head was spinning. The stupid idiot human blond FEMALE was waving him…well, waving _the rose_ back and forth as her arms moved in a ditzy-happy march.

"Cake…Cake….I want choco, banana, and crème!" Usagi sang happily, skipping home after a refreshing day of work at the Tea and Cake Café. It sun was just beginning to set, casting an orange glow over her hair and skin, warming her cheeks, and highlighting her lips. "I want choco, banana, and crème, o la la!" she continued, waving her arms in a military march as she strode up steep hills and trialing bends to her apartment. As she reached her door, she stopped to jingle her keys and press a soft kiss to the rose. "Tadaima—" she softly exclaimed as she walked through the threshold to an apartment decorated with leftovers snacks, pink kitten and panda pillows, and flowers messily planted on a terrace. She tripped over the step while removing her shoes, her skirt and apron flouncing in the air, and ran to the kitchen to grab a glass. Filling it with water, she dunked the rose into it, proclaiming "There, isn't that so nice, Rose-sama??"

She picked Mamoru up, cup and all, and set him on her bedside drawer, next to a family photo, some more snacks, and her teddy bear phone. Usagi sat on her bed for a moment, smiling at the rose, so happy that she could give it a home. She fell back against the Hello Kitty comforter, reached over and hugged close a cake-shaped pillow. Her hair was a thick, golden mass beneath her and smelled like cake too. She let out a tired sigh, suddenly noticing the azure-blue evening sky, and stretched all her limbs out wide with a loud yawn. _I served so many cakes today…._, she thought sleepily, _Maybe I can buy a cake palace…._ And those were her lasts thoughts before she drifted off to sleep.

Mamoru waited. And waited. He hadn't heard a peep out of the idiot-girl and wished to heaven that he could just get out of here and be in his comfortable and giant bed. And as quickly as he had thought it, Mamoru was standing, bodily, looking down at the rose in the water glass. He blinked many times and held up his long-fingered hands, flexing them. Real! _He was tangible_! He was about to let out an enthusiastic 'yip!' when he turned his head to the side and spotted the stupid girl asleep on her ridiculously childish bed. Not wanting to risk being caught and explaining himself, he swiftly made for the door of her room, set his hands on the doorframe and looked back one last time to the sleeping form. "I hope I never see you again, you fluff-for-brains."

And with that, Mamoru took a step out the door.

Only to be halted.

He tried again, pushing harder with his legs to cross the threshold of the door only to be rebounded back by a trampoline of energy he couldn't see. He smoothed his hand over the invisible wall, thumped it twice, and exhaled through his nose so slowly that Usagi, in her deepest sleep, shuddered in fear.

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Mamoru tried being patient and waiting for her to wake up. He sat on the floor, which he never in his civilized life had to do, and awkwardly folded his long legs. Impossible. He tried leaning against a giant stuffed tiger but kept sliding downward. When his knees connected to the floor with a muffled 'bang!' one last time, he had had enough. Fluff-brain was going to wake up NOW and perhaps _she_ could explain why he was stuck in her small-as-a-box pink room with no hopes of getting out. With a well-versed speech in mind, he stalked closer and stood tall over her sleeping form, her body haphazardly sprawled in a very unladylike way. Why, she would be arrested in his kingdom for taking such a pose in front of royalty! The thought of this girl being pulled away by royal guards, bawling, in handcuffs had him snorting in quiet laughter. At the sound, Usagi murmured and shifted slightly, dreamily scratching her stomach. _What are you, a dog??_ He thought, perplexed. He bent at the waist to examine her face, one hand balanced on the bed and the other on his hip. His eyes roved over her form, taking in the smooth cheeks, her thick lashes with no artificial darkening. Her lips were a small, rounded pout, glistening at the center and smooth as a stone beneath water. She turned her head toward him and her body curled to its side, following the movement. His eye twitched as he gazed at the long length of her hair, a veritable waterfall behind her, dipping along the curves of her body like a bright halo. Her white button-up had ridden up in her sleep, baring the full curve of her hip and slope of her belly. Instinctively, Mamoru glanced further down- and of course, her skirt had ridden up, well up over her smooth thigh, baring a pair of white panties with puppies holding hearts. His hands twitched. This time, his snort was loud enough to wake her.

And wake her it did.

Usagi dreamily opened those cornflower-blue eyes and smiled gently at the handsome man above her. She had been dreaming of this, and wow! No dream of hers had ever been so real and with such a hot guy! _Thank you, gods!_ She cried happily, reaching up to smooth his inky black locks away from his startled eyes.

**GEH**. She stopped, mid-reach, her eyes wide. Both forms were a hair's breadth away from one another, stone-frozen.

Usagi trembled slightly, now feeling cool air rushing to her exposed belly and upper thighs. She pointed a finger of her raised hand and giggled unsteadily, "This is a dream….ne?" with a tilt of her head, she pointed to him. Mamoru's eyes narrowed. He pushed off the bed to tower over her, his full lips now scowling, first at her pointing finger and then at her face.

"You are an idiot for sure." His voice rumbled, hands at his waist. Usagi's eyes widened as her coral-pink lips widened in a scream.

"RAPIST!!! RAPIST, HEL----" Mamoru jumped to cover her mouth with his hands, his other arm pulling her close as she tried to scramble away. Her eyes softened in fear of what was to come, and her eyebrows furrowed as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. Mamoru made the mistake of looking down, and an odd prickling hit the center of his chest upon seeing her reaction. He chose to ignore it.

"I'm not a rapist, you insane girl. My name is Mamoru. _Prince_ Mamoru, actually. I came from the rose you found." He stammered out, his senses flooded with the memory of his mother's joke-like curse and the feel of Usagi's rounded waist beneath his arm. As she listened, she tried to shake her head.

"_Believe me_," he continued, the hand over her mouth gentling. "Believe me. You found me in the deepest parts of the park. In a circle. Just me. Just a rose. I can't explain to you, but it's me."

As Mamoru cautiously removed his hand from her mouth, he took in her flushed cheeks, panting-breath, doe-like eyes, and reddened lips. Her hair was strewn about her body during the tussle and damn if she didn't look like she'd just been ravished by him. He could do it, he knew. He could probably enjoy himself a little with her—but lord, she was such a dope. Such a fluff-brain! He didn't want to risk catching the virus of her stupidity. At that thought, he blinked away any thoughts of ravishment or trim female waists or petite, perky breasts with tiny raspberry nipples----UGH!! He shook his head and looked away toward her window which showed a peeking bit of sunlight. Dawn, thank God. And as suddenly as he saw that scrap of sunlight begin to emerge from the sapphire sky, panic began to seize him. What if this idiot-girl didn't believe him? What if she called the po-lice, which he figured was some type of authority figure? What if he was trapped in some dungeon with no way to figure out whatever he was supposed to figure out? How would he eat? How would he travel in this damn forsaken place? As the thoughts continued to clamber up, his forehead dampened with a light sheen of sweat, his hand convulsed at the girl's petite waist. He sighed so deeply with worry that his chest pressed against hers.

When he looked back at Usagi, her eyes were slightly less confused but no less heart-wrenchingly blue, and Usagi being Usagi, she chose to trust this strange man named Mamoru. Even if he was lying about being a Prince, duh. But he looked at her, and she leaned her head comfortably to the side, smiling with such simplicity that he was dumbfounded. She said, finally, "Okay, Rose-sama."

Mamoru leaned closer, transfixed, and raised the hand from her waist gently. He continued raising it as Usagi smiled peacefully on, and he brought it down quick as a blade, slapping the back of Usagi's head, causing her to tumble off the bed in an unbecoming sprawl.

"It's MAMORU-SAMA to you, you imbecile!" he growled, taking the bed as his New and Deserved princely seat.

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Did you like it?? Mamoru-sama is such a jerk, didn't he?? Hah! Maybe he deserved this curse, after all!! Will Usagi drive him mad?? Will he love her?? We'll see! Stay tuned!! 


	5. A Humble Beginning

She just had to rinse her face with cold water. Cold, COLD water. A girl did not house a _Prince_ in her bedroom every day. A Prince who appeared out of a plain red rose she had found abandoned in a park on her way to work at the cafe.

Usagi patted the moisture from her flushed cheeks with a fluffy pink towel while warily staring at the...surprising turn of events that was currently sitting on her kitten-decorated bed. This 'turn of events' was actually a HE. A very handsome HE. And that HE had just, moments ago, finished explaining his How's of being here, in her room. He couldn't tell her the _Why's_ - he had no idea.

"...And so I told my mother exactly what I thought of that princess. I do not intend to marry a girl who anybody chooses for me, let alone one who had such cold eyes." He explained in a smokey, relaxed voice while turning a stuffed, smiling marshmallow-looking toy in one hand and observing it with a raised brow.

Usagi inhaled slowly and let the wet towel fall, forgotten, to the floor. She took a hesitant step toward this man whom she could fully imagine as a Prince from another realm. After all, she'd read countless romance novels. And, like the women in those novels, she could not ignore the strong planes of his face, the arrogant lines of his pale jaw, his aquiline nose. Try as she might to listen with concern as he continued his tale, she could not stop her eyes from lowering to his well-formed lips - the lower one finely shaped, a long bow, and the upper lip moving with a satirical curve on each word. Not to mention how his tongue curved on each spoken vowel. Pink. Pink lips. Pink tongue. How could she have ever thought of pink as only a feminine color?

"..Do you understand me, girl?" He snapped, his eyes sharply on her, forcing her shadowed gaze immediately to his - she nodded her head in a daze. But Mamoru was not stupid. He was not the Crown Prince of his kingdom for nothing. Did not spend all of his life in training to take on the role. He was a master of people's actions, reactions, their true thoughts and feelings. He must be, after all, to rule a kingdom. And so, all of his training did not fail him in recognizing that this slip of a girl was nodding uselessly like a puppy after he had wasted his royal breath telling her the important facts of his sudden arrival in her strange land.

He pursed his lips in annoyance, which Usagi noticed immediately and stiffened her back. Head raised high, white neck long and graceful as a Queen, she condescended upon him: "I'm no girl. I am 23 years old, _Your Highness_." She finished with a cocked, sarcastic brow.

At her declaration, he lowered his gaze to the floor for a moment and a thrill of victory passed through her spine; she hid a smile. Finally! She had talked back to someone...anyone! It felt wonderful! The corner of her mouth quirked in pride as she stared at the top of his glossy black hair, falling forward over his forehead in silky tendrils as he stared down. Her eyes slid lower again - just for a moment, she promised! - to peek through the gaping 'V' of his white lawn shirt, the official clothing of his lands, he had explained. She could see the smooth expanse of the top of his chest, the fine bones of his collar...his...

...belt?

Usagi's eyes snapped up and her body involuntarily (for self-preservation) took a step back as Mamoru silently unfolded from her bed, then raised himself slowly to his full height. He stood unwaveringly in front of her, staring down at her with those cool, azure-blue eyes. He was not smiling, yet Usagi felt her cheeks flood with heat at the seriousness of his gaze. She did not know why, but for a moment she wondered about Rapunzel from fairy tales and how intensely lonely she must have been in her tower, all alone, cherished yet unable to tear her gaze away from her window to the outside world. She blinked away the image yet saw a ghost of that same loneliness now, in the Prince's cool blue eyes. She saw the almost-invisible lines of strain between his jet-black brows and the slight lines at the corners of his mouth which only told her one thing - he did not laugh much.

And at that thought, a strange sense of sorrow filled her chest like boiling water. Her lips parted on an intake of breath as she tried to gather together all of these jumbled thoughts - coming at her in such hurried groupings.

Mamoru, meanwhile, watched her with a quiet strength, considering. Thinking, planning. Finally, the thick line of his dark lashes swayed low, following the line of her slim ankles up to her girlish thighs, the gentle slopes of her upper arms to the her curious cornflower-blue gaze. _What can she do_, he wondered. _How could she have found me and nobody else?_ His lightly-tanned hand raised slowly, fingers curling to grasp her cold fingertips. Usagi's body started like a deer shaken by the sound of a sudden gunshot miles away. Mamoru's grip tightened around the tips of those fingers, unknowingly warming them, trying to soothe her as his body responded to her fear.

"I do not..." he bit out with difficulty, jaw clenched.

Usagi's golden brows furrowed together in confusion. He tried again.

"I do not often...apologize..." he blew out the last word as if it had tortured him for years.

And then, to Usagi's utter surprise, he fell to his knees with a soft thud on the carpet, pressing his forehead into her tshirt-covered stomach, his hair in silken disarray over the pink fabric. His hand had slid from her fingers, unknowingly smoothing over her skirt-covered hip, a downward trail to gently grasp at the outsides of her naked thighs. She almost closed her eyes at that last sensation. His body shuddered with a powerful intake of air yet Usagi held her breath. For so many years she had prided herself on being a woman that her parents could be proud of. She did not kiss on first dates. Why, she was still saving herself for the man of her dreams! Yet here she was and all the cells in her body were almost quaking to be released from their confined spaces and wrap around this man who had, so suddenly, turned from an arrogant ass into...

"Please...I apologize for my rudeness...I..." Mamoru breathed, interrupting her thoughts. His smooth lips spoke against her flat stomach, breath stirring the fabric. His eyes were lowered in cowardice of using such a phrase to this girl whom he had just known this morning. His strong fingers on her thighs, however, twitched in masculine awareness of her closeness and scent. That knowledge, and the desperation of his situation he felt, made him turn his face to press a cheek against her body.

"You are my only link to this place...and so I must beg you...humbly beg you..."

Usagi's eyes widened as Mamoru shifted his head to gaze up into her eyes. He was serious, she suddenly thought in amazement. There was no sarcasm, no trickery in his voice. Only the pure, raw desperation of a person who has woken up, dazed, and found himself apart from all he has known.

"Will you help me return to my rightful place and land?"


End file.
